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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
by: Bill Bryson

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4092
EAN: 9780767919371
ISBN: 0767919378
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: September 25, 2007
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Sales Rank: 3904
Studio: Broadway

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as 'The Thunderbolt Kid.'

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Couldn't stop laughing...
This is Bryson at his best, funny, fearless, and factual. He took me back to splendid promise of the 50's when we awaited "Better things through chemistry" and believed they would come.

Rating:

- The Thunderbird Kid
I really enjoyed this book, remembering the 50s. Brought back some fond memories. We chose this book for our book Club, and will discuss it tomorow. It was an easy read.

Rating:

- Heart-warming
Bryson is well-known for his travelogues but here he takes us through his growing up years. All things mundane related to childhood turn interesting and are set aglow when touched by his genial wit. Bryson's companionable style is evident in this very entertaining memoir which is also a tribute to a much safer, much more innocent, and much more personable lifestyle of 1950s America. At times warm, at times wise, at times nostalgic, and always funny, this is a heart-warming chronicle of childhood by a gifted humourist which brings back cherished memories of our own.

Rating:

- A Must Read for Anyone Who even touched the 50's

If you spent any time in the 50's this will be a laugh out loud perspective that will not disappoint. Bryson is smart, funny and just has a gift for narrative.
The humor may be more appealing to males but I am not really sure.
Enjoy this treat.

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